Council commends local Employability Programmes
Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Paul McLean, has commended Network Personnel, Magherafelt on the successful delivery of two programmes which helped to develop the skills and employability prospects of those outside the labour market.
Since 2015, the ‘Up for Work’ and ‘Jobmatch’ Programmes, which were part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014 – 2020 and the Department of Economy, along with the Council match funding, have seen Network Personnel Employment Coaches provide one-to-one advice and guidance, as well as fully accredited training courses, providing over 1,400 participants the opportunity to access a range of education, training and employment opportunities.
Councillor McLean recently met with two individuals, Ian Holgate and Saphara Perez-Maddieson, who received support from the programmes and subsequently secured employment at Draperstown company, Yardmaster International.
He said,
I am delighted to hear that over the past seven years, Council funding of £86,500 towards the Up for Work and Jobmatch programmes enabled Network Personnel to access £4,510,960, resulting in a total investment of £4,597,463. This has helped over 600 individuals to access employment by providing them with the necessary skills, confidence and training required, and has delivered over 2,200 qualifications.
“I would like to congratulate Ian and Saphara on their new jobs as well as Shannon and the entire Employment Coaching Team at Network Personnel for their fantastic work. Support from Mid Ulster businesses is also critical to these initiatives so I would like to thank Keith Kyle of Yardmaster for enabling these young people to fulfil their potential and for making these programmes such a success.”
Network Personnel is the employability and training division of the Workspace Group, a social enterprise based in Draperstown. Georgina Grieve, Chief Executive of the Workspace Group added, “The Up for Work and Job Match programmes have been extremely successful since they began in 2015.The guidance and support provided to participants by the mentors and coaches, especially throughout the last few years, has been in instrumental in developing participants resilience and confidence and in supporting them back into employment and/or training. Our results in relation to employment outcomes are only possible because of the support of local businesses and we would like to thank both them and the Council for supporting both programmes over the years.”
If you would like to find out more about Jobmatch or Up for Work please call 028 7963 1032 or Email.